1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a control device that opens and closes a vehicle window, particularly to a window opening and closing control device that can open and close all windows of seats by a switch operation at a driver seat.
2. Related Art
In a power window device that opens and closes a window of a vehicle using an electric motor, the motor is rotated in a normal rotation direction or a reverse rotation direction to open and close the window according to an operation situation of an operation switch. For example, the motor is driven in the normal rotation direction to close the window when the operation switch is operated onto an UP side (a window closing side), and the motor is driven in the reverse rotation direction to open the window when the operation switch is operated onto a DOWN side (a window opening side). Based on a signal from the operation switch, the normal rotation and the reverse rotation of the motor are controlled by switching a direction of a current passed through the motor in a motor driving circuit.
Generally, in an automobile, the operation switches are provided in each of a driver seat and other seats (such as a passenger seat, a left rear seat, and a right rear seat) other than the driver seat. The operation switch provided in the driver seat (a main switch) includes other seat switches that remotely control the opening and closing of the windows of the other seats such as the passenger seat in addition to a driver seat switch that operates the opening and closing of the window of the driver seat. The operation switch provided in each of other seats (a sub-switch) operates only the opening and closing of the window of the seat. A controller is provided in order to control the opening and closing of the window based on the operation of the main switch or the sub-switch. The vehicle window opening and closing control device is also equipped with a function of detecting a foreign substance caught in the window to stop window closing action or to invert the window closing action to window opening action.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-19625 discloses a window opening and closing control device, in which the controller is provided in each of the main switch of the driver seat and the sub-switches of the other seats and each controller manually or automatically drives the motor according to the switch operation of each seat. In the window opening and closing control device, the controllers of the seats are connected to one another by a serial communication line. In the case that the window opening and closing operation of each of the other seats is performed using the main switch of the driver seat, the controller of the driver seat conducts communication with the controller of the corresponding seat through the serial communication line, and the controller of the corresponding seat drives and controls the motor. Although the detection of the catch is not described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-19625, a sensor that detects a position of the window is disposed in each seat, and the controller of each seat possibly receives an output of the sensor to detect the catch.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-343279 discloses a window opening and closing control device in which one controller receives the output from the main switch of the driver seat or the sub-switch of each of other seats to control a window driving motor of each seat. In the window opening and closing control device, the catch is detected based on a detection result (a current value) of the current passed through the motor and a detection result of the window position by an encoder.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-108493 discloses a window opening and closing control device in which a ripple of the current passed through the motor is detected and the number of rotations of the motor is calculated based on the detection result to control the opening and closing of the window. In the window opening and closing control device, the current passed through motor is monitored during the window closing action, a determination that the catch is generated is made when the current value exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the motor is rotated in a reverse direction to open the window.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-82647 discloses a window opening and closing control device in which a control unit (a driver seat unit) on the driver seat side and a control unit (other-seat unit) on the other-seat side are connected to each other by a single signal line. In the window opening and closing control device, when the window opening and closing operation is performed by the driver seat unit, the direction of the current passed through the motor is switched using contacts of a window closing switch and a window opening switch of the other-seat unit. The detection of the catch is not described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-82647.
One or more embodiments of the present invention constructs a window opening and closing control device, which has a simple configuration in which the number of wirings between a driver seat and a seat other than the driver seat is decreased, can perform manual action and automatic action of windows of all the seats from the driver seat unit, and can detect the catch in the windows of all the seats by the driver seat unit.